Retired police Capt. John Ledbetter devoted 31 years of his life, mostly working long shifts at night, to protecting and serving the people of DeKalb County.
"I thought the world of John," said Dick Hand of Albany, former DeKalb director of public safety and now assistant district attorney in Dougherty County. "Whatever position he held -- whether it was with the homicide division, the narcotics squad or the canine unit -- he always did an outstanding job."
Capt. Ledbetter's former subordinates held him in equally high regard.
"Those of us who worked for Capt. Ledbetter had the utmost respect and admiration for him and would go all-out to carry out assignments for him," said Maj. C.A. Craddock, assistant commander for criminal investigations in DeKalb. "I remember once when a gang of four guys committed a string of carjackings, the captain declared, ‘Nobody goes home until we nail these guys,' and we got them within four hours."
During the early 1990s the narcotics squad's special strike force, also known as the Black Cats, had a lot of success reducing drug trafficking in DeKalb. "That's because Capt. Ledbetter got us the resources to do our jobs -- extra manpower to do undercover work and unconventional equipment such as ambulances and school buses that gave us cover from which we could monitor suspected drug deal locations," Maj. Craddock said.
"John was the strong, silent type," said Conyers police Chief Gene Wilson, who once worked with Capt. Ledbetter in DeKalb's homicide division. "He was the kind of guy you knew you could always count on, the kind who would work around the clock to break an important case."
Capt. Ledbetter was credited with being the driving force in expanding DeKalb's canine unit.
"Previously we had just one dog who was trained for narcotics work only," said Fred Becker, a senior DeKalb detective. "It was Capt. Ledbetter's idea that the department should have dogs trained to track bad guys and apprehend them as well.
"That can get pretty expensive when you factor in cost of the dogs and their handlers and the training for both, the special vehicles they require, plus the dogs' upkeep," Detective Becker said. "Capt. Ledbetter even reached out to get a federal grant for our canine corps. It grew to four canine teams at the time he retired, and now the department has 11 of them."
Johnny Richard Ledbetter, 63, of Conyers died of cancer on March 19 at Vitas Hospice in Stockbridge. A memorial service will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at Scot Ward's Harry White Chapel. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made to Shriners Hospital for Children, Office of Development, 2900 Rocky Point Drive, Tampa, FL 33601.
Capt. Ledbetter's wife, Joyce Ledbetter, said he first got a taste of law enforcement as a U.S. Air Force policeman serving in Germany. Back home, he tried a couple of jobs but found no satisfaction in them, and so he applied as a DeKalb police recruit.
"I didn't want him in a job where I would worry about his safety, but he felt police work was his calling," she said.
Capt. Ledbetter had a soft spot for the children he encountered in his investigations. "It hurt him to find battered or neglected youngsters," she said. "I recall him telling me about a little angel of a girl he found playing with a spoon and a bag of crack cocaine. He just couldn't fathom how adults could be so cruel or thoughtless."
After retiring from those long night shifts in 1999, Capt. Ledbetter spent time gardening, tackling household projects, following the Atlanta Braves and fishing at Hard Labor Creek State Park.
Survivors also include a daughter, Rhonda Morelock of Orlando; three sons, Christopher Ledbetter of Knoxville and Jeffrey Ledbetter and Matthew Ledbetter, both of Conyers; and five grandchildren.
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